Ok, now I will explain it in simpler words without the “response code” wording and will try not to scare you.

Error 404 is to indicate that your computer was able to communicate with the internet server, but the server was not able to find what you were looking for.

In the most frequent case, 404 error is returned (happens) when a web page has been either moved or deleted.

How to avoid Error 404?

It is challenging in the real world to avoid the deletion or not to move a webpage. In many cases, this is practically impossible.

Every webmaster or blogger knows about it, and there are many various reasons behind.

One reason for you to want to delete a page could be – the topic is not interesting anymore. Imagine a topic about Google+ for instance. The subject is not existing anymore, so it’s pointless to have “how-to’s” explaining how to register on Google Plus, right?

Okay, let’s say you wanted to delete a webpage, or you have removed a page from your site by mistake(one of the worst things in the world).

When by some reason the webpage was deleted a 410 Gone Error code should be returned and here you can find how to do it.

If you think that search engine optimization and search engines result in pages are essential about your online business or website, then, in my opinion, yes- you should be more concerned and care about Error 404.

A simple design combined with a clever approach may help the traditional standard error page to stand out of the crowd, to keep the visitors on your website (at least a bit longer) and even to turn your visitors into customers.

When browsing the Web you will see 3 different types of customized “404 not found” pages:

Traditional (we all know them);

Innovative (there are many, but not as many as the Traditional “404” pages);

Awesome 404 error pages (the ones that to stand out of the crowd);

Use your 404 pages to your benefit

Is it possible to use Error 404 to your advantage?

Oh, yes.

Although how to avoid 404 pages is a bit more important question to ask now we’ll see together some examples where having nice looking “Not Found” page makes the life just a little bit funnier and a way better.

Look, if your website looks dull and have no practical value for your visitors, then, in my opinion, you shouldn’t bother at all how you can make the appearance of your 404 error pages outstanding.

Anyway, it’s always good to learn from the best, so even if the “Not There” page is one of your negligible problems at this point, have a look at this art presented below.

See the examples of some of the best 404 error pages you can ever find on the Web. Some of them are innovative, while others are awesome.

Aren’t they great?

If you have a look at how the 404 pages of the biggest retailers such as ok like you will find that some of them are a bit “usual.” Carrefour, Kroger, Rakuten, Carrefour, Target, Toys”R” Us, Argos, Alibaba or HomeDepot ….look boring…

I was expecting more imagination involved here, especially for such big names and companies.

Pretty much same is with some of the biggest and most popular brand names such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Boring.

YouTube, Amazon, and eBay are slightly better in this aspect. In fact, they are innovative, but not really impressive.

This is why they are not on this list with the awesome 404 error pages.

How does your 404 error page look like – is it traditional or innovative and stand out of the crowd?

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